Khoya Khoya Chand (2007)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Sudhir Mishra

Writers:

Sudhir Mishra (screenplay)
Sudhir Mishra (story) ...

Release Date:

7 December 2007 (India)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot Keywords:

Meta Film

Cast

Shiney Ahuja	...	Zafar Ali Naqvi
Soha Ali Khan	...	Nikhat
Rajat Kapoor	...	Prem Kumar
Vinay Pathak	...	Shyamol Mukherjee
Saurabh Shukla	...	Producer Khosa
Sonya Jehan	...	Ratanbala
Sushmita Mukherjee	...	Sharda
Ashish Ghosh	...	Noni Ganguly
Haidar Ali	...	Uncle Michael (as Hyder Ali)
Alka Pradhan	...	Nikhat's mother
Pradeep Kharab	...	Ravinder
Yusuf Hussain	...	Zafar's father
Dipannita Sharma	...	Prem Kumar's wife
Nitin Murudkar	...	Nikhat's father
Keerti Kapoor	...	Zafar's mother

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi | Urdu | Punjabi

Color:

Color

Company:

Holy Cow Pictures

Trivia:

The film was originally titled as "Bahut Nikle Mere Armaan", which means "Many of My Wishes Were Fulfilled". The title comes from Ghalib's line "Bahut Nikle Mere Armaan, Phir Bhi Kam Nikle".

Movie Connections:

References Awaara (1951)

Kahani Kho Gayi

Expectations that were never met - that is the sad story of Khoya Khoya Chand. Who would think that the man who gave us the mesmerizing Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi would now try to foist this film on us? This is a story of a greedy grabbing star actor, Rajat Kapoor, playing yet again an oily villainous type, the vulnerable and abused actress, Soha Ali Khan playing Nikhat, the dreamy idealistic poet, Shiny Ahuja playing the novelist/script writer. There are casting couches, there is crude (sorry, blunt) language, there is simulated sex with lots of oohing and aahing while clothes do not come off, and there are interminable scenes of films being shot. But somewhere along the line the filmmakers lose the plot and forget that in this collage of events they are also obligated to have a thread of a story. There is the thinnest of tales and unengaging at that.

The movie is visually stunning, an excellent period piece, also interesting for how it hints at real life stories like Guru Dutt and Waheeda and those countless women who were sent to earn a living in the biz at a very young age. The direction is sub-par, in the multitude of bodies milling about the key elements are never really isolated well enough, and the leads are quite wooden most of the time. Rajat Kapoor is great, as is Vinay Pathak. Sonia is quite good too. But Soha and Shiny disappoint hugely. In the hands of a more experienced pair of actors this could have risen to greater heights. As is, this is no Kagaz Ke Phool, but rather Kahan Hai Phool.

The music is mediocre (except the title number) and the sound is one of the most annoying parts of the film. The director wanted realism in the form of the hustle and bustle of a real set, but what we get is a background of cacophony in every scene, so much so that it is hard to hear what is going on. The story moves in fits and starts. The leading lady suddenly develops a hole in her heart, and the director has to go on blogs to tell us that the final shot is her orgasm! What the fish? Then we are told the rest of the tale in a written narrative - as if we cared by then what happened to this tepid tale.